My Prince of Light
by Takako Tokushima
Summary: AU: Mattiah, a 16 year old junior, is accepted into MSAGY, a prestigious school for the talented. She's a bit of a lone wolf but agrees to attend anyway. Soon, she runs into a transfer student from Japan named Marth. He and Mattiah forge a growing friendship, and Mattiah realizes what it means to look on the bright side of life. WARNING: Not Fire Emblemish, OOC Shiida
1. Chapter 1 P1

**AN: Hello everyone! This is Tokushima-san with a story that is crackfiction in the disguise of not-crackfiction. Truly, this is a ridiculous story. The only affiliation it has with Fire Emblem is the fact that Marth, Ike, and Shiida (and some other minor characters) are in it. Also Link from Legend of Zelda is in it. If you don't like OC's then you shouldn't read this because it's from the first person point of view of an OC. It's rated T just to be safe. There isn't really much that could be considered T in here. **

* * *

Life is a prison. You spend it trapped inside those inhospitable bars made of steel and ice with no escape. Your only exit is to cease living, ending your existence. You cannot exist outside those bars, you can only deteriorate within. There is no such thing as a true escape.

Inherently, that's what I was thinking as I stood there on the concrete path that would lead me down a road I never could have foreseen. After all, the path came to a stop at the tall white building looming in front of me. The intricately carved stone sign sitting next to the building's front doors read "Mr. Stubbs' Academy for Gifted Youth".

Indeed, it was the first day of school, and as a newly accepted student entering junior year at this prestigious academy, I can say I was definitely not looking forward to the prospect of being around so many potentially dumb people. Of course, everyone here had been accepted for being some kind of "prodigy"-of-sorts, but that didn't mean they weren't stupid. In fact, I firmly believed that most teenagers with a bit of talent wasted it doing irresponsibly stupid stuff. Thus, I could hardly be any less excited when I received news that I had been offered a scholarship to this academy for my final two years of high school. But there I was, taking in the allegedly impressive boarding academy before me, dreading the future year to come. In fact, the only reason I decided to go to this school was so I could see Senpai more often.

Senpai, otherwise known by her officially recognized name Corinne Tomlinson, was a year above me in school. We'd been friends for quite a while, and we hung out almost every week during the summer, so she steadily became the friend I'd most want to go to school with. So, in truth, there really wasn't any other particular reason I decided to come here. In my mind, all schools were the same- boring, tedious, and full of annoying people. Although, I couldn't deny the appeal that Mr. Stubbs' Academy for Gifted Youth held for many other aspiring young dreamers. The tuition wasn't bad, considering the fact that it was a boarding school, and classes were specifically designed to help students in their fields of expertise. Kids who graduated from this school were more likely to be scouted by big companies, sports teams, and most commonly, colleges offering scholarships.

Still, none of that _really_ appealed to _me_. I thought everything was boring, and wasn't too confident that I'd find a career that I'd actually enjoy, let alone tolerate. I lost interest in things far too easily. Even things I did enjoy doing, such as writing stories, were difficult for me to concentrate on, so I just considered myself too pathetic to have a real future anyway.

In any case, the only thing I could do was move forward. With a loud sigh of reluctance, I walked right up to the doors and pulled them open, stepping inside. The light blinded me temporarily, like a scene from Ouran High School Host Club, except I didn't break a vase, and hopefully could make it through the day without coming into any major debt.

I took a look around. It was… bland.

"The future sure is looking bleak," I mumbled under my breath. Basically, it looked like a normal high school on the inside, contrary to its elaborate high-status-façade. Front office, halls leading in random directions, white tile flooring and ugly-blue carpet, lockers lining the walls, you name it. The only hope I had was that I'd actually get a top locker for the first time in my life.

"Heyo," said a very familiar voice beside me. Startled, I jumped a bit and caught my breath as I turned to face Senpai. "How are you finding your new school?" She smiled at me, and as expected, she was pulling off her regular look. That is, a t-shirt, jeans, black high-top converse, and hair undone. She had shoulder length dark-blonde hair, brown eyes, wore glasses, and was just an inch taller than I, being 5'5".

"Senpai!" I said enthusiastically, my expression brightening when I saw her. "It's so nice to see you! Seriously, this place is awful…"

Senpai snorted in amusement at my response. "Aren't you overreacting just a bit? I mean, sure this place is strict and all but it could be worse. What's so bad about it anyway, Mattiah?"

I suppose I didn't properly introduce myself before, but you probably figured out my name is Mattiah. Mattiah Baker, that is, a 5'4" girl with gross-blonde hair kept back in a ponytail and sandy ocean-floor-blue eyes. So far I'd lived 16 years and wasn't excited for the years to come. I only wore jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes. The occasional converse would do, but my only pair was quite old and covered in dirt. So tennis shoes it was.

I was cynical, impatient, and it was widely accepted that I was 100% pessimistic. But that was because no-one knew the real me, including myself.

In response to Senpai's question, I shook my head sadly. "Well, for starters, it's so bland. Like, isn't this supposed to be a prestigious academy? I was expecting something more like… say… the White House. But this looks like the Idaho Penitentiary." I sighed again, as sighing just so happened to be my second language. Honestly, it would not be incorrect to assume I sighed after each time I spoke or got up to do something. My sighing predicament had most likely started in 8th grade. One day I'd decided to count how many times I sighed from the time school started until the time it ended. I can't remember the exact number, but it was well over a hundred. Additionally, I'd never truly figured out _why_ I sighed so frequently; I figured it just became my regularly irregular breathing pattern. I didn't want to entertain the thought that the reason might be I always had something wearisome on my mind. Subconsciously though, I always knew _wearisome_ was the perfect word to describe my mental processes.

"And," I continued, "I don't know any of the idiots that go here. You're the only person I know, and we're not even in the same grade…"

"You'll get used to it," Senpai reassured me, patting my head with affection, kind of similar to the way someone pets their cat or dog. "Besides, you'll meet plenty of "idiots" that aren't as idiotic as you might think." It was Senpai's turn to sigh now. "Anyway, life isn't always buttercups and roses; you might as well come to terms with it."

She was probably right. I was just a bit bitter to be an incoming third year when everyone else already knew each other. This was the first time I'd ever transferred into an established group of friends as the so-called "greenie". I wasn't the best at making friends, probably I was better at scaring them away, and I could only wish that someone would take interest in me.

Senpai checked her watch. "Whoops, it's already 7:55, meaning we'd better get to class. Wouldn't want to face the wrath of _Mr. Stubbs_." She chuckled quietly as if she'd made a funny joke and walked away, disappearing into the swarm of ants who were actually my peers down the hallway.

_I haven't even found my locker yet!_ I protested to myself. _I'll have to carry my backpack with me since class starts in five minutes... and I need all the time I can get to find my classroom. Dang._

I shifted my backpack to be more comfortable on my left shoulder and grabbed the schedule from my pocket. My first period class was English, a subject I actually enjoyed. Relatively. After all, even if I liked writing and language, the teacher usually made us do utterly stupid and aimless stuff.

"Room 112, huh?" I read off the paper. "Seems like there's lots of classrooms here." I immediately regretted my decision to skip the back-to-school-night Mr. Stubbs' Academy had held a few weeks back.


	2. Chapter 1 P2

**AN: Hello again, everyone. If you've made it this far and plan to continue reading, I might as well tell you a bit more background of this story.  
First of all, the only FE games I've played are Path of Radiance and Shadow Dragon. Admittedly, I did find out who Marth and Ike are from SSBB, but I was interested in them enough to find out what FE is. I care more about the characters than the setting and gameplay itself, so I don't really know that much about FE as a whole.  
****Second of all, I will probably write Marth and Ike out of character because their personalities are difficult for me to grasp. Especially Ike, because I find his personality to be somewhat inconsistent. If you have suggestions on how to write them more in character, I would love to hear them.  
Also, Shiida will be in this story later, and she is purposefully ooc. I'll explain more when we cross that bridge.  
**

* * *

Reading the signs on the walls which pointed me in the direction I assumed was correct, I eventually found room 112, with only a few minutes to spare. Trying not to feel overly self-conscious, I walked in as casually as I could and sat down at the nearest empty desk I could find. To my right was a girl absorbed in reading a book I didn't recognize. She was probably the kind of girl who was constantly reading and read obscure books no normal teenager would even consider picking up for a second. In front of me was a small group of friends or acquaintances sitting on top of their desks, talking about how excited they were to see each other again after the long summer break. Not that I could agree that the summer break had been long. Break was never long enough.

And finally, to my left was a very large crowd of people making a large amount of noise causing me to be largely irritated. I craned my neck to see what the big deal was, but it was just an average sized boy standing in the middle of the circle. Well…there was one odd thing about him. He had blue hair. Blue hair! As much as I loved blue, I had to admit it was a strange color to dye your hair. Especially if it was light blue, like Hatsune Miku. Anyway, it seemed to me as though most of the people causing the unnecessary commotion were girls, probably fawning over his "good looks". He had a smile on his face and was responding very politely to everyone asking him a billion questions per minute, but I could tell he was slightly overwhelmed and was just putting on an act to please his classmates.

"Hey," I said, turning to the book girl next to me. "What's up with him?"

Without looking up, she simply said "New guy."

My eye twitched in annoyance. How did this _new guy_ get so popular so quickly? The first day of school really hadn't even started yet! I swiveled my neck back around and peered at the guy once again. This time, there was an unconscious glare on my face.

Very much unexpectedly, the boy must've seen me out of the corner of his eye, because he turned his head and looked straight at me with a puzzled, curious, and strangely innocent expression. I looked away quickly, possibly blushing due to the fact he'd caught me staring. More specifically, he'd caught me glaring, and I said a prayer in my heart that I hadn't made an enemy already. Even less assuring was that if this guy became me enemy, all his fan girls would be my enemy and I would have no place at this school. I'd become a target for bullying, which was fortunately not something I'd ever experienced. Still, I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for being rude. At least, I thought it was guilt that I was feeling. I couldn't quite tell.

Feeling self-conscious for definite, I fiddled with the zippers on my binder awkwardly and waited for class to start. The bell saved the day a moment later, and everyone hustled to find their seat as the teacher, Ms. Bradley, made her way to the front of the room.

"Hello class," she smiled at us. "It's nice to see you all again." Then she blabbed on and on about the rules and especially punctuality and how great her summer was and eventually she turned, looked directly at me, and announced we had a few new students this year, and we were very lucky to have them both in our homeroom class.

"Would you like to introduce yourselves?" she asked kindly.

With a sigh, of course, I stood up and said "Um, hello everybody. I'm Mattiah Baker, and I have apparent exceptional writing skills. I like various languages and cultures and such. I like cats and am a real grim reaper. Other than that, I'm an extremely boring person. Thank you for your time." I shrugged and sat down, with a few people giving me strange looks. That was alright with me. Strange was different, and different made an impression.

Briefly I looked around to try and locate the blue-haired boy I'd glared at earlier, wondering if he'd thought my introduction was strange as well. I couldn't see him anywhere, but I did hear the person behind me stand up, and my heart skipped a beat. _It couldn't be! Of all the seats in the classroom? No way…_

But it was. The boy I wanted to avoid was sitting directly behind me, introducing his ever-so-popular-self to the class.

"Hajimemashite, minna-san. Marusu Roeru to imasu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

My jaw dropped ever so slightly. I wasn't the only one in the class who was impressed; looking around, I could see people with their eyebrows raised and amused smiles. A few people even golf clapped.

Let's get something straight- the reason I was impressed wasn't because he knew at least some bit of Japanese, but rather because he had the guts to introduce himself in a language most of us, if any, knew. Maybe this was something most people didn't think was that daring or outlandish. But I'd never be able to do something like that.

_Marusu…Arutia? That's a strange name… Marusu is Mars? Marth? It's probably Marth, because there is no 'z' sound and what the heck kind of name would 'Mars' be anyway? A dumb one, that's for sure. And Roeru would be...something like Lowell… Whatever, it doesn't matter. Not even moderately. It's not as if I actually need to know his name. He's obviously not actually Japanese, he just speaks it. He's probably just another peer who falls under the idiot category._

However, I soon forgot to remember the whole ordeal and the first three periods of the day passed rather quickly. The one problem I had was… I didn't make any new friends. I know, such a surprise, right? Therefore, when lunch rolled around, I immediately sought out Senpai (another astounding surprise), but she was with some guy I'd never seen in my life. They were talking and laughing as I approached them, so I eyed this suspicious guy suspiciously. Why hadn't Senpai told me about this person if they were so close? For some reason, I felt rather indignant and vaguely left out.

"Uh… hi…" I interrupted them awkwardly. "How are you both?"

Senpai finally noticed me and grinned when she did. "Hey Mattiah! I'm good, and this is my also good friend, Ike."

My eyes shifted from Senpai, to Ike, to Senpai, and finally back to Ike, getting a closer look than before. He had messy blue hair (Blue hair again? Seriously, people were weird those days), deep blue eyes, was fairly tall and extremely muscular, and basically appeared like he could be the captain of the football team.

"Err… nice to meet you!" I gulped nervously and forced a smile. This guy looked like he could snap me in half if he was angry. Or even if he wasn't angry. He just looked _dangerously_ strong. Ike nodded and offered his hand. I took it- cautiously, mind you- and while firm, he didn't yank my arm out of its socket so I thought this guy might be alright. No more, no less.

"I'm Ike Greil, a senior, and was accepted here for my athletic abilities. It's nice to meet you, too." He smiled slightly, but it wasn't an obvious smile, which made me wonder if perhaps he just wasn't a smiler. But that was alright, I wasn't a smiler either. Rather, I was a frowner. Yeah, that sounds about right.

"So… did you guys bring lunch?" I asked. Senpai nodded while Ike shook his head.

"I buy lunch every day," Ike explained. "…since I don't go home."

I was confused for a moment, until I remembered this was a boarding school and most kids didn't go home every night. "Oh, is your house far away?" I asked.

Ike's expression darkened slightly. "No… I just prefer it here." I figured he didn't want to talk about it, and decided not to push the matter any further.

"Well, what about you, Senpai? I thought you were going to stay at the boarding academy all week as well…" I squinted with confusion.

Senpai nodded affirmation. "That's right. But since I'm going home on weekends, I'm going to bring lunch food that will last the whole week. I mean, lunch room food is nasty, even at boarding schools." She said the last part pointedly at Ike, who simply shrugged and they both laughed.

_Ugh, I'm like the third wheel here, _I thought. _I need to find someone to join us so I don't feel so awkward and… third wheelish._

"Mattiah, did you bring a lunch?" Senpai asked me.

I nodded. "But I'll eventually stop bringing them because it takes too much effort to make them." I may have mentioned before that I'm pretty lazy. One of the ways it manifested itself was in my reluctance to prepare food for the next day. Although, part of it was the fact there wasn't much food at my house I wanted to take for lunch. I wasn't a particularly picky eater aside from my extreme aversion to vegetables, but most of the food in my house WAS vegetables or leftovers that would have to be warmed up if I wanted it to taste even remotely good. Then I'd have to wait in line for the microwave, and I'm not that patient.

After that, we headed to a lunch table and Ike got in line for a spicy chicken sandwich. Oh how I loved the cafeteria. Loud noise, questionable odors, and weird food.

"Hey guys, what's up?" came the voice of another person with whom I was familiar, as we pulled out our chairs and sat down.

"Hey Dezi!" I exclaimed happily, now that I'd have someone to talk to while Ike and Senpai were… doing whatever. Dezi was the younger sister of Senpai, and they looked fairly similar. People often got them confused with each other, but that never truly made sense to me because Dezi was shorter than both Senpai and I. I wasn't as close to her as I was to Senpai, but we were still good friends, and for that I was grateful because I wouldn't be alone anymore. Until I realized she had a person with her as well.

The guy standing next to Dezi had messy blonde hair- similar to Ike's, but Ike's was naturally messy… this guy's hair just needed combed or something-, electric blue eyes, unusually elfish ears, and was wearing vans, basketball shorts, and a hoodie. He was short for a guy, but still taller than Senpai. And worst of all… he had a huge, dorky grin on his face.

"Hey!" the boy said cheerfully. "The name's Link. What's yours?" he stuck out his hand for a handshake, never dropping his creepy smile. Admittedly, it wasn't intended to be creepy, but it was certainly creepy to me. You know, like the way clowns are creepy to a lot of people because they're just so ridiculous looking? Thus, I hesitated to extend my hand, which he apparently sensed, because he reached over and grabbed it, shaking vigorously and endlessly, like those super oblivious characters in movies do.

"I'm… Mattiah." I nodded curtly, yanking my hand away. I figured I felt like Haymitch did when Katniss said she wanted "Nuts and Bolts" on her team in Catching Fire. Which is to say, exasperatingly incredulous.

Link nodded enthusiastically. "Dezi told me about you! She said you like to joke about death a lot."

"Uh… I suppose so…" _Okay, he said that way too cheerfully… _I thought. _What if he's one of those psychos who acts really nice but ends up murdering everyone?! What if he's a yandere?_

Yeah, I was a bit paranoid. Only slightly.

Link turned to Senpai. "You must be Dezi's older sister, Corinne! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Senpai shook his hand and smiled, until Link said something that must have struck a nerve. "Can I call you Corn? I'm going to call you Corn." He laughed and took a seat at the table while Senpai steeled her jaw. Indeed, Senpai did not look amused.

"Now we just need Ike to call Senpai something really lovey-dovey like 'honey' and then we'll all have a nickname for her," I joked. Except, Senpai still blushed indiscreetly, so it suddenly dawned on me that maybe the term 'best friends' didn't suit them as well as the term 'special friends' did. As the spiteful person I was, I smiled mischievously at this realization, but Ike returned with his _spicy chicken_ at that moment so I decided not to make a big deal over nothing. Well, not nothing, but nothing that mattered. Still, I couldn't help but smile to myself when Ike sat down next to Senpai. Luckily, Ike seemed far more interested in his food than anything else at the moment, so anything romantic between the two quickly faded from existence.

* * *

**AN: If you object to Marth's last name being Altea, please tell me. I can easily change it to Lowell; Altea is simply my preference.**

**EDIT: I have decided to change Marth's last name to Lowell. For...reasons XD **


	3. Chapter 1 P3

Once everyone was situated at the table, enjoying their lunches, a conversation naturally started up between us.

"So," Senpai began, looking at me. "How has your first day of school been so far?" Everyone except Ike looked at me expectantly, and I huffed with annoyance.

"It was… alright. Boring, tedious, stupid, etc., but that's all to be expected. So… it's been alright." That was it. That was my lackluster answer.

Link tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm… that's an interesting way to look at things. I, on the other hoof, thought today's been pretty rad. After all, I made four new friends today!"

At first I'd thought I heard him say hoof instead of hand, but I completely forgot about it by the end of his silly sentence. "Wait up," I chuckled. "Who're these friends you speak of?"

"You guys, of course," Link beamed. I fought the urge to face palm that he hadn't understood my obvious sarcasm. Also at the fact he already considered us friends even though we'd spoken to each other exactly once. Plus, I was pretty sure he'd gotten off on the wrong foot with Senpai already. Sooner or later, he was sure to get an earful from her. After all, she _was_ corn.

"So… you just met Dezi today?" Senpai tentatively asked Link.

"Sure did," he mumbled, as he shoveled food into his mouth. I raised an eyebrow at Dezi, as if to ask how this even happened, and in response Dezi kind of… giggle snorted.

"We had all three classes together today," Dezi explained. "And in every class we were assigned to sit next to each other."

I glanced at Link. "Well, that's not going to last very long is it?" I snorted. _Well, he probably won't last long sitting next to anyone. He might have to be quarantined from the rest of the class if he always acts like this. _

Link looked up from his food and blinked innocently. "Huh?"

I couldn't tell if this was amusing or concerning.

And that's how my school experience manifested itself for the rest of the week. I spent the boring, tedious classes by myself, consistently dismayed by the decisions of my classmates, and I spent my breaks and lunchtime with Senpai and the gang, consistently dismayed by the decisions of Link. Each day I rode the bus to and from school, putting off my homework until the morning it was due. For the most part it felt like a normal high school experience. I hadn't expected any different.

However, there were a few things that just couldn't seem normal no matter how I thought about it. The first thing was that I hadn't seen the headmaster, Mr. Stubbs (I assumed), at all. No-one even talked about him at all. When I asked Senpai about it, she simply shrugged.

"No-one's ever seen him. The teachers never say anything about him either. When we ask them, they just say he's busy," she'd told me.

"Don't worry," Ike had added. "You'll get used to the teachers BS eventually." I figured I'd take their word for it and accept the fact that Mr. Stubbs was just some cryptic entity I'd never get to see. This was disappointing, but at the same time I was almost enthralled that there was something unusual and mysterious at our school. It was an atmosphere most took for granted.

But there was still another problem. I felt like I was constantly being watched, no matter where I was in the school. Despite my efforts, I wasn't able to locate any security cameras, but that just made the situation seem even more eerie. What if Mr. Stubbs was an omnipotent being who had mythical powers and could watch me wherever I went in the school? I knew that wasn't really possible but I'm not always a rational thinker, so of course it crossed my mind several times. I decided to not ask Senpai about this, because I figured it was just me being paranoid. And, let's be honest… if there did, in fact, happen to be someone watching me, I didn't want them to be aware of the fact I was aware of them.

Despite this, school carried on normally. Except, too normally, because it was extremely… you know… boring.

The second week of school, however, was a bit of a different story. Still boring, for the most part, but perhaps more adventurous.

It came as a bit of a surprise to me, since my old schools had done things quite differently, when I walked into school on Monday and student council campaign posters were up everywhere. In middle school, student council elections didn't start until around three months after school started. At my first high school, elections started around the same time, but people didn't even bother campaigning.

_I hope there are some good speeches this year, _I thought excitedly. By "good" I didn't mean inspirational. I didn't mean motivational. I didn't even mean realistic. What I meant was humorous. There's nothing better than having a naturally funny person give a speech amongst all the other boring redundant ones. I mean, everyone already knows the student council isn't that important. It doesn't really matter which person gets picked because no-one's really going to make a difference. So rather than hearing all the "promises" you plan on fulfilling to make our school a better place based on your own definition of the word, I want to hear something that'll make me laugh. Be amusing for my sake.

Unfortunately, from my perspective, our school didn't seem like much of an amusing place. Yet another unfortunate thing was that I didn't arrive at school until only a few minutes before class started, so I didn't have time to look at all the posters and find out who was running. It wasn't super important, but I wanted to see if there were any clever, witty, or just generally amusing posters to make my day. If the poster was amusing, maybe the speaker would be amusing as well. _Guess I'll find out when they give their speeches… _Leaving it at that, I headed to first period.

The first day of the second week of school wasn't all that exciting. There was a little talk about the upcoming elections, but I couldn't catch anything they were saying before class started. Schoolwork, of course, never has and never will excite me, and it was starting to pick up now that we'd gotten all the easy stuff out of the way. That said, first, second, and third period felt like they dragged on forever. Like I mentioned before, I'm a really lazy person, and the more work I have, the more bored I get. The more bored I get, the less I feel like doing my work. Do you see my problem? All I could think about was making it to lunch time.

And it came. It always came, of course. That's how I endured everything- knowing it would end eventually. But at the same time I didn't want everything to end. I hated existence but I hated the thought of not existing. And I hated that my whole life was just a contradiction of itself. I could never be satisfied because I somehow managed to be on both ends of the spectrum simultaneously. I never understood how I felt. Whether this was due to my inability to understand or due to the inability of my feelings to be understood, I knew not.

As soon as the bell signaled it was lunch time, I grabbed my stuff and zipped out of the room, heading toward my locker to put my stuff away and get my lunch. I was in a hurry to see Senpai and wasn't really paying attention to where I was going- I wanted to have enough time to look at all the campaign posters. Channeling my way through the mass of students, I dodged people I saw from the corner of my eye.

It happened in an instant. I turned the corner, and before I could process what was happening, I found myself staring down at the floor where the person I'd just smacked into was sprawled out wide. Binders, textbooks, and papers were scattered everywhere.

"Oh my gosh," I panicked. "I'm so sorry!" I knelt down and frantically began picking up all the stuff, my cheeks flushing scarlet. I really felt ashamed that I'd done something so stupid.

Then, something happened that made my heart stop. The person placed their hand on top of the book I was reaching for, gently brushing my fingers, and said, "Hey, it's alright, so… don't worry about it. You must have been in a hurry."

I jerked back and looked up. For a second, my mind was blank. I had no idea what to think.

Marth. The person I'd run into was Marth. Maybe the second week of school was worse than I thought.

"Uhhh," I stammered. "Right…" I quickly finished picking up all the stuff and pushed it toward him. "Err… sorry," I muttered, standing up and hurrying away, forgetting about going to my locker and instead heading to the lunch room. Thoughts of self-reprimanding and regret clouded my mind and I clenched my fist with deep frustration. Maybe I was overreacting, but embarrassment wasn't something I dealt with very well. Okay, I didn't deal with a lot of things well, but embarrassment and guilt were worse than the rest.

Trying to act normal, I casually walked over to our table and sat down.

"Hey," I said to Senpai and Ike, the only ones who were currently sitting at the table. Ike nodded and Senpai waved.

"Hey! How are you?" she asked.

"Good."

"You have your jacket on- aren't you hot?"

"Not really."

"Your face is really red."

I shrugged nonchalantly and looked away. "It's always like that…"

Senpai raised an eyebrow. "Your face isn't usually _this_ red. Come on, Mattiah, you know you can't fool me that easily."

"You got me, Senpai. This jacket actually _is_ making me feel warm… but it doesn't bother me." I made an awkward half smile. A _very_ awkward half smile. "So, uh, wanna go look at the student council posters?" I asked, switching topics.

`Senpai outright laughed at my request. "As if."

Ike merely shrugged. "Maybe after I finish eating."

I tapped my foot impatiently. "Is all you care about food?" I rolled my eyes, half amused, half annoyed.

"Probably," Ike replied with no humor in his voice.

"What about me?" Senpai joked, although it was still an indignant joke, if that makes sense. I think Senpai knew what Ike meant, but the way he said it was… lacking tact?

Ike shrugged again. "I guess."

In the end, I didn't go wandering through the halls like a tourist. The truth was that I didn't want to run into that kid again by myself- neither literally nor figuratively. I mean, I only ever did stupid stuff when he saw me. He probably thought I was really annoying and childish or something. It's difficult for me to explain, but, for the most part, I didn't care what people thought of me. However, I only didn't care what they thought of me as long as it was true. If someone thought something about me based off of something that really wasn't true, that's when I got irritated. I did do stupid stuff sometimes, but I wasn't an immature person. I wasn't generally a jerk to anyone. If that's what Marth thought of me, I would be very sad because neither of us would benefit from an opinion like that.

As hard as I tried, I could never really get over my embarrassment; I figured I never would. But I knew these memories would become less prominent over time, and decided to come to terms with them sooner rather than later.

So when that blue-haired boy of my nightmares ended up running for student body president of the student council, I took the whole speech thing seriously. There were a few people who tried to pepper some humor into their speech, but none of them amused me in the way I had hoped. I was practically forced to consider the professional aspect of these speech givers. And- what can I say?- I actually ended up voting for Marth. He had this kind of charm that just emanated leadership. His words had this power that made me realize what it meant to have natural talent.

It didn't really matter though. Marth was always going to win. Everyone loved him.

Knowing this only lowered my self-worth, though. What do you do when you know you will never be talented enough to stand out or make a difference? I looked around and could only see people who were better than I was.

Such is the nature of high school life.

Or rather, such is the nature of humanity.

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**This is the last part of Chapter 1. Yay! In any case, I don't know how often I'll be updating this. My winter break is soon and so I'll definitely type more then.  
Please let me know if you have any suggestions!**


	4. Chapter 2 P1

**A/N: Hello again my dear readers! It's been a while. I guess. Not really. Anyway, here is part 1 of Chapter 2, in which Mattiah starts talking to Marth. How lovely. I hope you enjoy.  
On another note, I finished playing Shadow Dragon today. However, I forgot to kill Shiida and so she got married to Marth. Because Nyna hypnotized Marth into thinking he loved Shiida, even though he really didn't. That's my theory, anyway, and it's kinda the theory that inspired me to write this story. **

* * *

The second week of school passed. The third week of school passed. And guess what? Labor Day passed too! We celebrated my younger brother's birthday as well, but he's irrelevant to this story.

Now, I'd had my fair share of experiences-I-really-didn't-want-to-experience experiences during the first few weeks of school, but the fourth week of school, determined not to be outdone, took the cake.

The Wednesday after Labor Day break was a B day. In other words, it was the day I had my least favorite class. This class is a cruel class where you are forced to physically exert yourself to the point of near-death if you want to keep up with those kids who exercise every single day and can basically do pull-ups with their chin. And if you don't get twenty-five consecutive pushups in perfect form, you fail the class! Yay!

You probably guessed it. It's called Torture Chamber. Well, the official title is Physical Education, or P.E. for short, but it's less education and more designated time for teachers to take out their sadistic needs on the poor, innocent students. Hence, torture chamber.

Whatever your name preference is, I was in this class, doing the daily warmup. Daily warmup was running around our school track four times. That would make the total distance approximately two miles. Now let me tell you something, for all you people out there who aren't exercise experts such as myself. TWO MILES IS NOT A WARMUP. Not unless you plan on _killing yourself from over-exertion_ during your actual routine.

This has been a PSA.

I didn't always find Phys. Ed. so distasteful. In fact, I enjoyed it all the way up until 9th grade. Once it was 9th grade, the class became a pain. But in middle school, P.E. was an easy class and usually quite fun at that. You see, in middle school I was a rather athletic person. I'd played soccer ever since I was very young, probably around five years of age. I'd also played softball at one point in time. I had the body for it, I was fast and coordinated, and liked to run. I could run a seven minute mile, do thirty consecutive pushups, and nearly sixty sit-ups in one minute. I was the only girl in my 8th grade class to receive the Presidential Fitness Award. There were only two guys who received the award as well. It was something I was very proud of- flexibility was my weakest point and I'd worked very hard to reach the minimum point at which I had to stretch.

Anyone who knew me wouldn't believe my stories about my 8th grade self. I couldn't blame them, really. Something had happened 9th grade year, something I couldn't explain. For some reason, I suddenly hated exercise. I became lazy and started living a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise became painful, soccer became a chore for me… so I quit. Essentially, I lost all the abilities I had previously held for athletics. Sometimes I looked back and felt deep regret that I'd gone down this road. The road I'd chosen was one leading toward failure. Mostly I regretted quitting soccer. Even if I didn't like the competitive feel of the games and the boring stuff we did at practice, I wished I still had the desire to run and the ability to dribble the ball down the field and score a goal. In all likelihood, that was never going to happen. I've said it several times at this point, but I can't stress this fact enough- I was a failure. And a failure like me couldn't just do something difficult like picking up a sport I'd quit a few years ago. That required physical exertion, time, and most taxing of all, motivation. I had none of those. Indeed, I had deteriorated into something undesirable.

Some people run better when they're with other people. Most of them do, whether it's the competition, the encouragement, or simply the energy they get from being with friends. I'm different though (I know, I know, such a shocker). I run better when I'm by myself. Something about running with others holds me back from trying my hardest. Not that I ever try my absolute hardest, but…

That said, I let myself fall a good distance behind the rest of the pack, where it was quiet, peaceful, and I could not-enjoy this torture by myself.

As per usual, I was lost in my own little world, focusing on getting this dumb run over with, rather than the stuff going on around me. I'm very good at ignoring stuff I'd be better of paying attention to, you see.

_Just keep running, running, running; just keep running, running, run-_

I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder and someone said "hey" but honestly all I remember is being so startled, so frightened, so paranoid someone was going to assault me, I turned and punched them in the gut without a second thought.

But you know, the unfortunate thing was that this "someone" was Marth.

Fate is so cruel to me sometimes.

Upon realizing what I'd just done, my eyes widened with disbelief and I blushed profusely.

"S… sorry…" I winced, my voice barely a whisper.

_Oh. My. Gosh. Oh my gosh! I want to die. Can I just run away? Or something? Running away sounds like a great idea! I might get in trouble or be a bad person but it still sounds like a better situation than this one anyway. Why is still hunched over like that? Gah this is so dumb. I'm so dumb. Is he alright? Will he be okay? Does he need help? Ugh I'm so stupid. Why did I have to do this? I've gotta go get the teacher! _My thoughts flitted through my mind in a big jumbled mess.

"Uh, I'm… I'm going to go get the teacher!" I said in a very panicked voice as I turned and began to run off in the direction of the school.

But, like usual, things didn't exactly go as planned. Before I could go even two feet, Marth's hand reached out and grabbed my wrist, yanking me back to where I was standing.

"It's alright. Don't worry about me. I was just shocked." Marth had a little color in his cheeks, but probably not as much as I had in mine.

Pulling my hand away, I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Okay… do you want something from me?" I immediately regretted my words. I'd just punched the guy and now I was speaking to him like he was the one who wronged _me_. His impression of me had to be the worst. Honestly, I was surprised he wasn't completely avoiding me, because if I were him, _I_ would definitely be avoiding me.

"Ooh, cold." Marth smiled jokingly. "Actually, I saw you running by yourself and thought I might keep you company because you seemed a bit lonely."

Well, that certainly was a surprise. He didn't want to avoid me? That was a mistake on his part. Even if he was playing nice, I wasn't going to fall for that kind of thing. A person like him wasn't so trustworthy, in my opinion. "That's a bit rude to point out, don't you think?"

Marth simply shrugged and smiled reassuringly.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "Feel free to do what you'd like." With that, I started jogging around the track again. I didn't want to get so far behind that my other classmates lapped me. That would be super embarrassing, and we all know that's definitely not something I need more of.

To my surprise, Marth actually followed and ran with me instead of going ahead. Which wasn't a good thing because good golly that silence was awkward. I was awkward. Everything was so darn awkward.

Unable to look at him, I stared at the ground just before the space in front of my feet as I ran. "You know," I sighed reluctantly, not wanting to have this conversation nor wanting to expend my precious breath on it, "I really am sorry about punching you. I, uh, thought it was an attacker or assault person and I'm kinda sorta really paranoid and don't trust people so…" I was acutely aware of my burning face, cheeks turned rosy, and I struggled to keep from sighing more. Apologizing was difficult.

But Marth's reaction surprised me yet again. "You know," Marth copied me, though I somehow got the feeling he wasn't saying it in a mocking manner, "you really shouldn't worry about it. I'm kinda sorta really alright, and would like for you to trust me, so…"

If I hadn't been panting for breath, I would have laughed.

"Never have I met someone other than my own soul so enigmatic," I said, shaking my head. "You're… confusing me."

Marth huffed in amusement. "That's my line."

"You did what?" Senpai scoffed, barely able to contain her laughter toward me. Toward my stupidity, you could say.

"Exactly what I said I did," I replied defensively. It was the end of the day and my patience was wearing thin. Link, on the other hand, was pretty much rolling on the floor laughing.

"Ah, Mattiah, you really messed up," he choked out.

"Shut up," I snapped impatiently, hoping Link wouldn't be _too_ offended by my tone. I was irritated by him, but he was still my "friend" and I didn't want to scar him for life or anything. So it had been my mistake to tell them about my experience in P.E. Really, what had I been thinking? Of course they'd laugh at me because what I did truly was dumb. So I couldn't blame them, for the most part. It didn't change the fact I was offended; they were supposed to console me!

"Sounds like an honest mistake to me," Ike said thoughtfully.

"See?" I pointed out gratefully. "Ike gets it."

"But," Ike added. "You should work on paying attention to what's going on around you."

Ouch. Probably that was supposed to be his idea of advice, but Ike didn't really understand tact. But then, I was also just hypersensitive. Hypocrisy was also something I needed to avoid.

"I'll do that…" I said awkwardly, not knowing what else I could say. Senpai and Link continued to be amused by my reaction. Not wanting to glare at Senpai and foil our beautiful relationship, I glared at Link instead.

"Hey," Link gasped for breath, trying to stifle his annoying dork-laughter. "If it makes you feel any better, I've done some stupid stuff too."

"Considering the source those words are coming from, that really doesn't make me feel better, sorry to say."

"Well, I don't think it's that big of a deal," Dezi put in. "It seems to me like Marth doesn't dislike you for it."

I sighed sadly. "What makes you assume that?"

Dezi suddenly grinned. "For starters, he's walking over to us right now."

"What?" I froze. _What does he want _this_ time? _I looked over my shoulder and saw my nightmare just a few yards down the hall, making his way over to where we were standing. Marth and I made eye contact and he waved at me, but I quickly averted my gaze to a more comfortable target known as the floor and turned back to face my friends.

"You guys jinxed me," I joked hopelessly. That was the only explanation, right? I mean, jinxes are _so_ real.

Link shrugged. "That's the way it works, kouhai."

"You're not my Senpai, o smart one, and I would never trust your life lessons. Or any lessons for that matter."

Link feigned being hurt. "Well excuuuuuse me princess. Looks like your knight in shining armor has formally arrived." Indeed, Marth had walked over and was currently standing just outside our little circle of friendship, love, and Mattiah.

"Hello," he politely addressed everyone. "How are you all?"

"I'm just dandy, thank you!" Link exclaimed jovially, intentionally making a fool of himself in order to make a fool out of me. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. President!" Then he did his weird handshake thing.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Marth replied, keeping up his polite demeanor with a nod.

"He's actually pretty annoying, so you might end up regretting those words," I said, sticking my tongue out at Link like the immature young-minded girl I was. "The short one's Dezi, the intimidating one is Ike, and the shy yet stellar one is Senpai. Welp, I've gotta go catch my bus… so… uh… see ya later!" I gave this brief description of my friends quickly and grabbed my backpack with much haste, speeding away before they had the chance to protest my leave. No way was I spending time with Marth without putting up a fight, especially if I had dorky Link around with me. The best I could do at the moment was to just keep running away.


	5. Chapter 2 P2

**A/N: Enter Stalker!Marth. Not really. Maybe. You'll have to read and find out. **

* * *

I thought I could keep avoiding Marth like I'd done before I punched him. That's what I wanted to happen. But I was wrong. Even though I'd managed to abandon ship after school, Marth continued to talk to me during class from then on. Even when I ignored him, he was persistent. Seriously, that boy didn't ever give up. I considered myself a pretty stubborn person, and I could usually stick with something difficult if I really felt like achieving it, but most people gave up on me when they realized I didn't budge so easily. Marth… well, he didn't know me very well, so perhaps that was why he got himself entangled in my mess of a life.

And it was like that all of September. I never saw him before school or during lunch, but he'd always come find me during the classes we had together. It was weird, because it felt like a one-sided relationship, with Marth putting in all the effort to make it work and me putting in all the effort to avoid it. Mostly Marth would just ask me how I was doing and talk about school and sometimes he'd ask questions about me, and sometimes I'd answer them. However, I never approached him or started a conversation between us or asked him things unless it was about an assignment. Honestly, his diligence was so profoundly enigmatic because I gave him almost nothing to work with, nothing to find appealing about me. My pride was still too injured to do anything more.

Still, the more time I spent with Marth, the more I decided it would be in my best interests to befriend him. The way these feelings crept up on me was very sly, and I was quite surprised when I discovered them. It wasn't often that I found myself slipping up in my determination to prove someone wrong, or in this case, drive them away. The problem was that I hardly knew anything about this guy, and I was beginning to become more curious.

And curiosity is where it always starts.

"Hey…" I ventured one day, as I was sitting in my seat during English. It was choose-your-own-adventure-Friday, meaning you could write about whatever you wanted, no limitations whatsoever. We were also allowed to get out of our desks or listen to music, talk quietly to friends, etc., but the teacher always checked at the end of the period to make sure we'd written something. Choose-your-own-adventure-Friday was my favorite thing about English class. Normally, we did really stupid and boring stuff in English that really didn't benefit me at all and just made me hate everything about it. However, choose- your- own- adventure- Friday allowed me to use my creativity for the things I actually wanted to use it. It was mostly stress free and most of all, not boring or tedious. If I find something we do in school neither boring nor tedious, it is obviously doing something right.

However, on this particular day, something was bothering me and I couldn't focus on writing. I turned my chair around so I was facing Marth and sat my notebook down on the edge of his desk. This would be the first time I approached Marth on matter not related to schoolwork, and I was actually somewhat apprehensive about it.

"Hey," I repeated. "I have… a question."

Marth finished the sentence he was writing- gosh, he had really feminine handwriting but it was really beautiful- before setting his pencil down and looking up from his paper. "Do you need help with something?" he asked, glancing sideways at my notebook. Of course, I'd known he would assume it had to do with schoolwork. Anything else would be out of character for me. But I tend to do things out of character at spontaneous times because I am a very spontaneous person.

I shook my head. "Not really. Rather, your behavior is bothering me…"

Marth looked confused. "Oh… I didn't realize… What am I doing wrong? Did I offend you?"

"Oh no," I blushed, as it dawned on me that the way I'd phrased that was terrible. The urge to face palm rose from deep within me, but I held it back and resigned to just shaking my head in disapproval at myself. "I mean, it's confusing me. I mean… uh, I was wondering…" Sighing, I shook my head as if to clear it. "Basically, I wanted to know why you keep talking to me? I'm a really boring person and don't quite understand your interest."

_Whew. Finally got that train wreck of a sentence out._ Granted, I did make myself look like a total fool. No deceptions there, probably.

"Why not?" Marth asked. It was probably a typical response, but it wasn't one that I was particularly thrilled to receive.

"I have nothing to offer as a human being, I'm awkward and unfriendly, I am so obviously avoiding you… and most of all, I'm just plain boring." I said this with great melancholy, sounding more pitiful than originally intended. This "skill" of emanating self-pity was one I unfortunately excelled at.

Marth laughed breathily, taking me by surprise. "_I_ don't think you're boring."

"Huh? Wait, why?"

"For one," Marth began, "you're a lot different than how you act sometimes."

"How so…?" I tilted my head in genuine curiosity. It wasn't that I disagreed with him, because in actuality he was speaking the truth. Simply, I wanted to know why he personally thought this, how he had come to this conclusion, and how he was sure enough of it that he would share his thoughts with me.

Marth smiled. "You know, you've always got a scowl on your face."

I nodded matter-of-factly. "This much is true. What's your point?"

"Everyone thinks you like death and you talk about how you hate the world and society-"

"I _do_ like death and hate society."

"-but if you watch closely, there's something more."

"You're watching closely? Weird." _This dude has some major patience. How does he seem so content even though I keep interrupting him in the middle of his explanation?_

Marth looked back down at his notebook, but wasn't able to hide the pink that colored his usually pale complexion. "W-well… there's a lot to notice... Like how you have a peaceful look on your face when you listen to music and you smile to yourself when you're writing something you enjoy, something that pleases you, which might be a rare thing to come across. When no-one else wants to do something, you're the one who volunteers- like when Ms. Bradley, the other day, asked for volunteers to run to the office and get some materials for her; or when a classmate needs help on an assignment and no-one wants to help them because they're too busy but you give them your assistance anyway. When someone closes your locker of bumps into you or knocks something off your desk on accident, you instinctively say sorry even though it's not your fault. After lunch, you take your friends' garbage and trays for them, even if you don't have any of your own garbage to take care of. And when you see someone upset, you look like you're upset for them as well. As if you actually do care about them, even though you say you don't."

I suddenly felt the urge to back away. I was entering some dangerous terrain right here. "H-how do you know all this? How did you remember any of this? Do you write it down in a notebook or something?"

Marth took a deep breath like he was preparing for a long explanation. "I've never been the most attentive person," he admitted. "I zone out a lot and get lost in my own thoughts, tending to focus on the bigger picture instead of the smaller details. Because of this, a lot of times I'm oblivious to how other people feel and many things they tell me come as a surprise. But I've learned that when I focus on observing someone or something quietly and watch how they act whether someone is 'looking or not looking', so to speak, I can discover a plethora of new things about them that way.

"The first day of school, when I first saw you, you seemed upset with me, or, in the very least, upset with someone. As a person who wishes to avoid conflict, especially when I'm the source, I couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. Thus, I kept watching, even though I never did find the answer I was looking for." He laughed quietly. It was a laugh with a hint of regret in it. The melancholic undertone made me sad. "Well, I decided you need help."

Taken aback, I knitted my eyebrows in confusion. I needed help? Mental help? School help? I didn't appreciate Marth's ambiguity. "Help… with what?"

Marth hesitated. "…I'm not sure."

"What?" I asked with a flat voice, vaguely unamused. _You're telling me that you have the gall to say I need _help_, and you can't even give me a reason why? _

He simply shrugged. "You see… I just got the feeling you needed a friend."

"Hmmm… I wonder if that's true," I replied slowly. This kind of sentence would sound better in Japanese. I knew _kana_ was the word you could add to the end of a sentence if you wanted to question something. It was often translated at 'I wonder'. But I was terrible when it came to formulating sentences in Japanese, and I wouldn't dare to even attempt saying it in the language that Marth was familiar with while I was not. So the sentence I said in English satisfied me enough. It wasn't a conversation continuer. It was a conversation ender.

After hearing the words exchanged between Marth and I, I realized I was not the only one with my best interests in mind- Marth had my best interests in mind as well. In the very least, he had good intentions as far as I could tell. That said, I decided to make a better effort to be a good friend and put the past behind me. I still didn't understand what Marth was thinking, but I decided that was irrelevant. People didn't have to have a reason to be friends, after all, as long as they both wanted it.

However, I did have a reason to not be friends with people. The point of friends was pretty much solely to enhance your social life during your youth. Perhaps to enhance your social life even as you aged, but friends were certainly more significant and influential during teenage years. You'd keep your friends throughout high school, but what happens after you all go to different colleges? You become busy and absorbed into your adult life and don't have time to keep in touch with your old friends. You have to move on.

But I don't want to move on.

I don't want to say goodbye.

I don't want my relationships to change or become meaningless. I don't want to forget, to become a distant memory. Every bond that is forged will break, inevitably, at some point. So why should I bother making them when I'm just going to have to say goodbye? Goodbye was one of my least favorite words. It meant I wouldn't see the subject of my bidding for an extended period of time. Granted, most of the time, my farewells were all ephemeral, but eventually they wouldn't be. I dreaded that phenomenon of moving on from relationships. For the most part, I was an adaptable person who could adjust to new situations quite easily. But the one thing I was reluctant to let go of was the people I grew attached to.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't avoid making friends, I just didn't go out of my way to make them. I just stayed true to myself and let myself become acquainted with people naturally. If I was going to get to know someone, I wanted to at least make them happy temporarily. Even though, in the end, it really didn't matter either way.

So even though the truth was that I wanted to run away, just like the way I felt that day in P.E., I didn't. Instead, I was stuck in a standstill, at the border between "acquaintances" and "friends".

But if you've learned anything about my life at Mr. Stubbs' Academy for Gifted Youth so far, it's that things didn't stay the same for very long.

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**A/N: Merry Christmas everyone ^_^"**


	6. Chapter 2 P3

**A/N: Hello again, everyone! Sorry for taking so long to update. I've been unmotivated.  
But this chapter is full of contrived comedy so I'm sure you'll love it. **

* * *

Marth and I had exactly four classes together. My schedule went like this

**1A.** English 11

**2A.** Pre-Calculus

**3A.** Chemistry

**4A.** Japanese

**5A.** Writing

**6A.** Art- Graphic Design

**1B.** U.S. History

**2B.** Spanish 3

**3B.** Physical Education

**4B.** Japanese

**5B.** Writing

**6B.** Study Hall

The classes we had together were English, Chemistry, History, and P.E. Also, Senpai was in my Japanese class and Ike was in my pre-calculus class. Although, I didn't talk to Ike much if we weren't with Senpai.

In any case, it was the first Tuesday in October and I was in History, finished with my assignment. Our teacher, Mr. Kennedy, would let us spread out in the cafeteria and hall we were in to work quietly in groups. Marth was finished with his assignment as well, so we were sitting by ourselves at one of the lunch tables, waiting for the class to be done. At this point, I was ready to consider Marth more than an acquaintance, because he really was the only classmate with whom I ever really spoke. I had more conversations with him than I did with any other person in my grade, probably a ratio of twenty to one. It must have been something like that. So it would have almost been ignorant of me to keep denying the fact that Marth and I were some sort of friends.

"I'm thinking of switching my last period class to study hall," Marth brought up casually, as I was beginning to become drowsy from the lack of mental stimulation. This often happened to me during the last periods of the day when not much was going on or we were being lectured.

I eyed him with suspicion- my last period class was study hall, and it couldn't be a coincidence that Marth wanted to join the class that _I_ was in. "Uh, why? What are you taking during that period right now?"

"I'm taking economics," he replied. With a sigh, he added, "And as for why I want to switch, it's a long story."

"Since when was that ever a real excuse to not give a reason?" I challenged.

Marth smiled in amusement. "Good point. I never really thought of that. Anyway, do you really want to know?" he asked, sounding pleased I was taking interest in something other than just asking for help.

I hesitated at first, and then nodded. I mean, why not? Besides, I was curious to know why this answer would elicit such a long explanation in the first place. All I wanted to know was why he was switching classes- could there really be a complicated underlying reason?

"Well…" Marth began, "I am correct in assuming that you are aware I transferred to Mr. Stubbs' Academy for Gifted Youth this year, right?"

I nodded. "Although, I wouldn't have known, and honestly I'd have never guessed, if I hadn't asked anyone why you were so popular before I got to know you. Since, you know, I'm new here as well and all." _That's right_, I thought. _I've known Marth was new since the very first day of school. That's what started this whole thing, isn't it?_

"Do you know what I was accepted here for?" Marth asked, interrupting my thoughts, which was alright with me this time. Normally I found it irritating to be interrupted while I was trying to think. Sometimes, though, I was glad someone could relieve me from them.

"Eh… no…" I admitted with a guilty wince. Seriously, why hadn't I ever asked that? That was one of the first things you got to know about someone at this school! I wasn't exactly normal and I rarely conformed to the status quo, but this was just common sense. Then again… I didn't have common sense.

"I was accepted for my 'academic excellence'," Marth said. "Does that sound boring and unoriginal to you? Well, at the school I previously attended, I took many advanced courses and did well in all of them." He looked at me to make sure I was following, and I beckoned for him to continue. My mind smiled a little because his eagerness about my investment in something he had to say was somewhat adorable and even a little bit endearing.

"I'm assuming you don't know where I transferred from?" Marth inquired.

"You are assuming correctly," I confirmed. "Should I know? Is it relevant?"

Marth shrugged. "Perhaps. You might be able to recall my introduction on the first day of school, I wonder?"

It took me a moment to recreate the scene in my mind. My mouth opened slightly in shock. "It couldn't be…" I didn't say what I was thinking. I didn't want to be wrong. But I was also nervous to be right.

Marth smiled, giving me the notion that he knew something I didn't. Or maybe the notion that he knew his next words held a lot of power and he enjoyed sharing them with others. Or maybe he was just continuously amused at my reactions to his story.

"It's Japan?" I blurted out.

"It is." He was still smiling, as if he really had found my reaction funny.

"Why is this so amusing to you?" I asked defensively. Maybe if I spent more time thinking about it, I could come up with a plausible explanation for why Marth was acting the way he was. But at that moment I was feeling impatient and wanted to know the end of the story. Unfortunately, Marth seemed determined to drag out this guessing game for as long as possible. _Gosh dang he's not a sadist is he? ...Okay never mind why did I even have that thought? I'm making myself feel awkward. _

"What do you call Corinne?" he asked, instead of answering my aforementioned question.

I sighed. "What do I call Senpai? Senpai, of course."

"And… what do you think that makes me think?" Marth prompted.

"Oh…" It hit me. Like I'd just been high-fived in the face with a brick. I should have seen that conclusion a mile away, but I was too thick-headed to see anything even if it was right under my nose. "You would think I know Japanese."

Marth golf clapped. "Good job! However, somehow I feel that isn't entirely the case."

"Sou desu yo ne…" I said sadly. "I'm terrible at it… but… wait, what's the point of all this?" He still hadn't answered my original question and I was beginning to wonder if he was purposely avoiding it.

"Right," Marth said. "Because I know Japanese, you could assume I am from Japan. But you didn't assume this because I'm not ethnically Japanese, as you can tell."

I blinked. It was true I didn't really pay attention to peoples' looks and I could be pretty dumb in general, but I knew enough to see that Marth did not have an Asian appearance at all. In fact, he had blue hair, blue eyes, and white skin. I'd never really taken the time to truly analyze Marth's attributes, but now that it had suddenly been called to my attention, I couldn't help myself.

His face was round, slightly boyish, but I could see why the other girls thought he was attractive. His hair was short and looked soft to the touch, like silk. Soft blue silk. His skin was smooth and flawless, a perfect shade that was neither too light not too dark. His eyes were round and he had long girly eyelashes that curled upward delicately. He was neither well-built like Ike, not scrawny like Link. Rather, he was in between, obviously someone who exercised to some extent (more than I did, in any case) but not too much, not too seriously. His eyes were full of many emotions and had a personality of their own- happiness, kindness, determination, and contemplation.

You could say he looked rather… graceful.

"Very true, I mean, even not-very-smart people could see that," I said quickly, hoping there hadn't been too long of a pause, and pretending I hadn't noticed anything. "So you're from Japan even though you're not ethnically Japanese." I clarified.

Marth nodded. "My family has lived in Japan since archaic times, or so I was told. However, we've never had actual Japanese blood run in our family. This was probably an intentional action on my ancestors' part; they wanted to keep the bloodline…" Marth trailed off, seemingly reluctant to finish his sentence. "…Anyway, I'm staying with my aunt and uncle temporarily, and so I of course had to switch schools. Due to complications and similar issues, I was given the option to repeat a year of high school. I decided to go for it because I could take more classes and I have nothing to lose, only to gain. Since I was accepted for my academic excellence, I need to take it seriously and learn as much as I can. Coming from the Japanese culture, I feel a lot of academic pressure to do the very best that I possibly am able to do, and that means getting extra education."

"Wait wait wait," I said quickly. "You're telling me you could be a _senior_ but instead you're retaking your _junior_ year?" Unbelievable. _Utterly_ unbelievable. This guy was insane, and possibly someone I should not be involved with. People who liked to learn were dangerous.

Marth laughed apologetically. "It's not that big of a deal, trust me. This way, I have more leeway with my classes. Which, at long last, brings me to your original question."

I took a breath of relief and tried not to make it sound like a sigh. "Finally!"

"My schedule hasn't been completely decided yet. I don't have a fourth period; I've been spending it in the office, similar to Study Hall. And since Study Hall is so useful, I want to make that my last period instead of economics, and use my fourth period for something else."

"Makes sense…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say. Honestly, my brain had just received so much information in a few minutes and our conversation had been all over the place, so I was still trying to gather my thoughts. _So… Marth Lowell is from Japan, speaks Japanese, but is not Japanese. He moved to America for some reason, is staying with his aunt and uncle, goes here because he's super smart and an over-achiever goody-2-shoes, is actually seventeen aka senior age, and now he wants to be in the same Study Hall class that I'm in. Oh, I can't believe he actually speaks Japanese! And he's lived in Japan! Ahhhhhh I finally met someone who's culturally Japanese, this is like a miracle- this is like a dream come true! Wait a second…_

"Your accent!" I blurted out suspiciously.

"Huh?" Marth tilted his head in confusion.

"You don't have an accent," I said pointedly.

"Ah, that's because I grew up speaking both English and Japanese. My parents, grandparents, and nearly all the ancestors before them could all speak English fluently, and could all pass the skill of speaking the language down to each rising generation. Therefore, I've never had trouble speaking with correct accents."

"Really? None at all?" I was almost disappointed. Japanese accents are adorable.

"I suppose… if I'm stressed, sometimes you can hear my 'r's sounding funny," Marth admitted with a sheepish smile. Frankly, I couldn't even imagine Marth stressed out. But frankly, I didn't know him very well as it was.

"Well, I'm jealous," I admitted with a sigh. "Japanese is so beautiful, I love the way it sounds."

"Indeed, the way the vowels flow off the tongue and the soft rhythmic lull you can hear when you listen quietly is a most profound sensation." Marth agreed. "Hmm… are you taking Japanese?"

"Actually, yes, I am. I'm no good at it, but I still ignorantly hold onto the hope that I can at least try."

"I can tutor you if you'd like," he offered. The words hung dangerously in the air, silencing me. I couldn't believe it- I'd wanted a Japanese tutor for so long, more than almost anything else, and now I had the opportunity to have one. It was finally in my reach, and it was a feeling most surreal. But accepting Marth's offer would mean staying after school with him, which I wasn't yet comfortable with.

"I, uh, have a bus to catch. I don't want to drive to and from school every day. It's a pain…" I said, kind of lying. I did have a bus to catch, and I didn't want to drive every day, but that was really just an excuse. When it came right down to it, driving every day wouldn't be too difficult, just tedious.

"I can give you a ride," Marth said, not missing a beat.

A few moments passed in silence as I considered my response and reviewed my options. "I'll think about it," is what I ended up doubtfully replying. Of course, I pretty much had no intention of ever accepting his offer. Everything was too complicated, and I could deal with just taking my Japanese class, nothing more, nothing less.

Just imagine my dismay when I walked into Japanese the next day and Marth was there. In the classroom. In fourth period.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" I asked after setting my stuff down on my desk. Carrying a big zipper binder and textbooks and notebooks and all the unnecessary stuff I had with me was quite the pain. "Don't tell me _this_ is the class you chose…"

Marth nodded an apology. "Sorry to surprise you. This _is_ the class I chose, and I'm sure you can get used to it quickly."

"No, I mean- you already _know_ Japanese!" I protested. "You're wasting your elective by choosing this class."

"I don't think a class spent with you is a class wasted," Marth replied. _What the heck does _that_ mean?_ I wondered, giving him an incredulous look.

At that moment, Senpai walked in and saw us talking. "Hey," she waved at me. "What's up?"

"The ceiling."

"No, really."

"Well, Mr. Marth here decided to join Japanese even though he _already speaks it_." I rolled my eyes to express my growing exasperation.

"How… peculiar…" Senpai said, even though she didn't actually look all that concerned. "Sounds like a waste to me but my opinion is obviously irrelevant on this matter."

"Don't worry, I'm not here to take Japanese," Marth assured us. "I'm the teacher's assistant. I wanted a class where I could have less work so I could have more time to focus on my other homework. I also wanted the opportunity to help teach something I'm good at, as I believe it would be a good learning experience for me. Most of all, I simply want to help others."

"Isn't that what study hall is for?" Senpai whispered to me under her breath. "Well, I think that's a pretty good idea," Senpai added, conceding to Marth's logic. "Right, _Kouhai_?" She nudged my side.

"I'll admit you make a valid point just this once," I said through gritted teeth. _I can't believe he became a TA so I couldn't say no to him tutoring me in Japanese. Wow. _

Senpai and Marth laughed at me. I did doubt my choice in friends.


	7. Chapter 3 P1

**A/N: Hello again, it's been a while. But I am back with more story to share! I'm more interested in writing my story down on paper than I am in typing it, so that's what takes me so long to update (I am currently writing chapter 19). I will have another update soon, probably, since not a lot happens in this section.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Where are you going for Activity Day?"

The question, aimed at me from Senpai, rang annoyingly in my ears. I wasn't so much annoyed that I had been asked this certain question as I was annoyed that I didn't have an answer. So, in short, I was annoyed at my own incompetence and indecision.

"I haven't decided yet. All the places sound really super boring and really super dumb. Plus, you have to pay for them, which makes it even more dumb," I said flatly.

"Well aren't you a happy camper?" Link teased me.

"I'm always happy, glad you noticed," I retorted with zero tolerance for Link's antics while I was trying to concentrate on making a decision.

I was never really the kind of person who got excited over spending money on shallow entertainment for half a day, especially if it involved a lot of people, a lot of movement, or a lot of noise in general. This aversion of mine wasn't very useful, because every few months at my school, we had an activity day where everyone has a choice to go to one of three places. The places varied with each time, but it usually cost anywhere from ten to fifteen dollars just to go. I was perfectly alright with staying at school, but _nooo_, everyone was required to go. It was either that, or stay home and be marked absent. Apparently the school's reasoning was that they wanted the students to spend time interacting, getting to know each other, and learning social skills. It was having the opposite effect on me though.

In any case, our choices this time were bowling, Jumptime, and Wahooz. Pretty standard activity day locations, according to Senpai. Wahooz was almost always an option, and Jumptime or bowling was usually included in the first activity day as well. I knew Jumptime was out of the question for sure, but neither bowling nor Wahooz sounded appealing either. Jumptime required a lot of movement, bowling required… skill…, and Wahooz required tolerance for noise and crowds. I had none of these.

"It's true these kinds of things aren't for everyone," Ike consoled me. "But you've just got to endure it, and in the end it's not a big deal."

To be honest, I was glad someone seemed as unenthusiastic about going as I did. Ike didn't directly complain about this, but I could tell this wasn't his "kind of thing". When I thought about it, though, I couldn't think what _would _be Ike's "kind of thing" besides sports. There had to be _something_ else.

"True," I admitted. "I could probably afford to have a more open mind about this. In that case, where are all of you going?" If I couldn't make a decision based on how I felt, then I could just go where everyone else was going, to make to most out of this detestable activity.

"We're all going to Wahooz, actually, because anywhere else would be… less than desirable," Senpai said. "I'm guessing you want to go with us?"

"You know me too well," I laughed,

Senpai shrugged. "It was obvious."

"Yeah, whatever." I stuck my tongue out at Senpai. "Where do we sign up?"

"The front office, of course. Where else?"

"Senpai, don't make me seem as dumb as I actually am," I chuckled.

"You don't need me to make you seem dumb," Senpai said mischievously.

"…Ignoring that comment. Anyway, I suppose I'll just stop by the office after school, since break is almost over. Don't let me forget!" I asked them even though they probably wouldn't remember either, leaving for my last period, Study Hall.

When I arrived, Marth was sitting at his desk with a group of his friends. Now, this was another thing that bothered me about Marth- he was always with people. _Always_. I'd literally never seen him by himself. He didn't have to seek people out, they just came to him like flocks of wild geese. He was friends with pretty much every single person in our grade and then some outside of it. Although I hate to admit this, it made me doubt his sincerity, and I couldn't help but feel maybe he was just being my friend because it was his "duty as the student body president" or something trivial like that. Making acquaintances with many people was a good way to increase popularity, after all. It reminded me of Peeta from the Hunger Games- in the movie, Peeta waved to the people in the capital even though he didn't really care about them, and Haymitch commented that he knew what he was doing. Can you see where I'm drawing the comparison?

The disappointing thing was that I _did_ want to talk to Marth, but not when he was surrounded by all those people. As pathetic as it sounds and is, Marth was the only friend I had in the majority of my classes. In fact, he was the only one I could even consider a 'vague acquaintance'. Since I knew Senpai and Dezi, I had never felt the need to invest my time in the rest of my classmates; I was new and didn't fit in with them, so I'd stick out like a sore thumb. If there was anything I didn't want, it was for people to think I was trying to fit in, because I really wasn't. I didn't care for their standards. Their standards were _vexatious_, and they had no place in my daily routine. It was all so contrived and pointless and short-sighted.

So, instead of joining them, I sat down by myself, and opened my notebook. Always, always, _always_, I carried a notebook around with me, to the point it grated on some peoples' nerves. Even if I didn't end up writing anything at all, keeping a notebook (or at least something I could write on) came as a sort of comfort to me. A peace of mind, so to speak.

When people read my writing, they say I'm good with words. But if you talked to me face-to-face in real life, you wouldn't think that at all. You'd probably think that I have social anxiety because everything that comes out of my mouth is poorly articulated and flows like caramel- which is to say, not very well. I think it's because I don't truly understand how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking until I write it down, and then it all comes spilling out. This was the reason I liked writing. Words- not grammar- have so much meaning and power that can convey so many different concepts when combined in different ways. The English language has words to convey almost every concept imaginable, and if you can't convey it in a single word, you can convey it in a sentence. You can create shallow sentences with the same words you use to create profound ones. It's a beautiful thing, but something I can only attain when I write it down. So if something ever crossed my mind that I wanted to remember or elaborate or express, I'd have my notebook on hand to make things easier. Some might think it's a bother to carry a notebook around, but I find it a bother to be unable to express myself.

That said, even though I had opened my notebook, I didn't really write anything inside of it. Rather, I had nothing to say, so I stared at the calming blank white sheets of paper, wondering if any significant thoughts would come to mind.

Like usual, there was nothing.

It wasn't pointless though. It wasn't like I had been holding my notebook for no reason. I did it because I felt like it. I wonder if that's a valid enough reason?

I mentally shrugged and closed my notebook, sneaking a glance at Marth.

You know that feeling when you can tell someone is looking at you so you look at them as well and both of you make eye contact but it's kind of awkward so the other person looks away but they're still curious so they look again a few seconds later?

Well, that's basically what happened, with me being the one to break eye contact with Marth. I looked at him, but he caught me staring. As expected, I looked away, but I was still curious. I looked back at Marth, and he was still staring at me. Then, he waved me over. To the group he was talking with Ugh. I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, but Marth was persistent. Almost like a stalker. The people around him saw that he was looking past them, so they turned their heads as well.

_Gosh dangit Marth I don't want to talk to all those dumb people, I want to sit here and quietly observe the dumb things they're doing so I know how not to be a dumb person!_ But alas, my thoughts were internal and Marth could not read my mind, which is something I would normally consider to be a blessing rather than a curse. But desperate times called for desperate measures, folks.

One of the girls, named Mia, waved at me as well.

"Hey Makaiah, come join us!"

"A…alright," I stammered awkwardly. Even though she obviously didn't pay attention to me and didn't care to get my name right, I couldn't really refuse her request unless I wanted to seem antisocial or a jerk. Well, I was arguably both of those either way, but that's beside the point.

Regardless, I walked over and joined their little circle, albeit very self-consciously. Where was I supposed to stand? Who was I supposed to stand next to? What were they even discussing? Why would you want me anywhere near you guys? What input could I possibly have to improve the quality of your conversation?

They continued to talk, mostly ignoring me, basically going on as normal. The questions in my head seemed very unreasonable in comparison.

"So, Mia," I began, wanting to contribute to the conversation. "Where are you going for the activity day?"

"Bowling, of course!" she grinned. "It's all about the competition, ya know? I'm gonna beat everyone! If you're going bowling too then you'd better watch out because this girl isn't going easy on anyone!" she gave me a thumbs up with a lot of enthusiasm. She was genuinely excited.

"Ah, good luck," I nodded to her, kind of weirded out that I'd met someone who wanted to go on the activity day.

"Where are you guys going?" Mia asked in return, not just to me but to Marth as well.

"Uh…" my mind blanked. Where _was_ I going again?

"Good question," Marth said. "What do you recommend?" He looked at me, a silent inquiry as to where I'd chosen to go. Of course. I should've known that Marth would follow me anywhere. Relatively, anyway. I didn't expect him to jump off the grand canyon if that's something I decided to try out someday.

"Jumptime is terrible unless you like to run around a sweaty room with a bunch of sweaty little kids. I had a friend who worked there once and she said it was absolutely horrifying. The times when she had to deal with kids anyway," I said quickly. "Bowling if for, you know, competitive people who like to take turns patiently and wear weird-looking shoes. You either have to have skill or be made fun of for using bumpers. Wahooz is for people who like large crowds and games and prizes and CLAW MACHINES."

"In short, you recommend… Wahooz?" Marth assumed. "It sounds like you're going there."

"Ha, you'd like to know that, wouldn't you? Well… I personally don't want to go to any of these places, but Wahooz is the least of three evils," I remarked sadly. "So you should… like… come with me." I had to sacrifice much of my pride to add that last part.

Marth nodded. "That's what I was thinking. So I'll gladly take you up on your offer. Surely this will prove to be an interesting experience."

_An interesting experience indeed. _"We can only hope."


End file.
